Come the wet-ass hour, I’m EVERYBODY’S DADDY!

So said Al Pacino in Sea of Love. Now there was a man who knew things.

The new album now has a title, I have a good idea of what I want to do for the cover art, and it’s crawling toward the finish line faster than a snail cadaver. I just need to record a few more things, figure out how to best sequence the tracks, get the inserts printed up, and then it should be available at a bordello near you. Or if you’re uneasy about walking into such an establishment, sometime in January you should be able to pick up a copy at places like Dr. Disc, Phog, and Sanctuary.

I’m not sure how people will respond to this one. I think it’s a bit less accessible than the last album. Some of the songs take a bit more work before they’re adequately seduced and reveal all their secrets. I like the way it’s shaping up to be a bit less immediate, but then I’m odd like that.

Speaking of the last album, on CJAM’s website they just had several DJs post their “best of 2008” year-end lists, and both Adam Peltier and Cassie Caverhill had CHICKEN ANGEL WOMAN in their top ten. That’s pretty wild if you axe me. Not that you should axe me. I imagine it would be rather painful to be axed, and I enjoy keeping my skin intact wherever possible. But thanks to Adam and Cassie, and to everyone at CJAM for all the support. The response that CD has received still boggles my mind.

And speaking of Mr. Peltier, I went back and listened to the MP3s from a few weeks ago when he invited me to come in for some co-hosting/interview action, and I was surprised to hear I did actually manage to answer some questions somewhat coherently, in spite of what I thought at the time. How did that happen? Your guess is as good as mine. I did come down with a bit of brain freeze when asked about file sharing and famous artists giving away their music for free on the internet, but I guess that’s because I don’t really have much of an opinion about it either way. Music is music, everybody dance…you know the drill.

It’s interesting to listen to the recording of my first ever live radio appearance from back in 2002, and then to listen to this and hear how much more relaxed I sound these days. I’m sure it also helps when the person you’re hanging out with is a friend, and someone you’ve known for a long time. In any case, it’s one of the few times (along with the interview Adam Fox did with me a little while back) where I can sort of enjoy listening to myself rambling away about what I do, whatever that is. We did a lot of joking around, and I think you can hear that we had fun. The laughter is genuine.

For anyone who might want to take a listen, here’s all three hours (!) of the show split into three parts. Thanks again to Adam for extending the invitation and letting me play a bunch of random music I brought with me. In the second part, a song of mine segues into “Jungle Fire” by Tim Buckley, which is pretty insane. As I told adam (and he noted afterward), there’s a part in that song where Tim sings the word “inside” and hits a bum note…and then he holds that bad note, exaggerates it, and turns it into a wild yodel that remains one of my favourite vocal moments I’ve ever heard from anyone. If that ain’t a bit of improvised vocal genius, I don’t know what is. The drumming from Maury Baker isn’t too shabby either.

Come to think of it, that whole block of songs is pretty crazy. You’ve got me, Tim Buckley, Paul McCartney at his most bizarre, Stina Nordenstam, and the Pixies, one after the other. I dig it.

The very end of the last MP3 got cut off, so you don’t get to hear our parting words or “She Might Be Waking Up” by Shudder to Think. But that High Art soundtrack sure has a nice album cover, doesn’t it? Yes. Yes it does.

I can see the resemblance…maybe a biopic about Leonard Cohen will be the project that brings Pacino back from the never-ending parade of really bad movies he’s been sleepwalking through for ages now. Or maybe he’ll end up doing “Scent of a Woman 2: Frank’s Back” instead.